


sleight of hand

by markives



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Awkward Flirting, Fluff, M/M, Magic, Magic Shop, Magic Tricks, magic shop owner kun, shameless yangyang
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-05
Updated: 2020-11-05
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:28:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27394978
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/markives/pseuds/markives
Summary: Kun is the owner of a novelty magic shop when one day, a new (and kind of cute) customer walks in.
Relationships: Liu Yang Yang/Qian Kun
Comments: 10
Kudos: 49





	sleight of hand

A magic shop is never really the first thing one thinks of when wanting to open a successful shop. Yeah, the occasional child comes in, pulling on their mother’s hand, fascinated by all the novelties lining the shelves. Regulars usually consisted of either people who casually learned tricks to impress their peers at parties and family gatherings, or people who were a little bit too into magic to the point it was almost concerning. 

But for Qian Kun, this was the dream.

Kun has loved magic as long as he could remember. As a child he’d often go to magic shows, one of the best sources of live entertainment for a young child, and as a little boy he became determined to learn how to do all the things he saw his favorite magicians do on stage.

Kun remembers learning his first ever magic trick. It was terrible. He learned how to turn two strings into one. He was so excited, the only thoughts running through his head consisted of I’m gonna do magic! I’m finally gonna be a magician! When he learned the trick, however, his body and spirit deflated. It felt like he learned the world’s biggest secret, but the secret was so incredibly underwhelming. Magic wasn’t real, it was all just optical illusions and psychological tricks. Kun hated magic.

It wasn't until years later that Kun rediscovered the beauty of magic. He was watching a tv show with some of his middle school friends. One of the characters had done some simple magic trick. Kun knew it was just a trick of the hand, but his friends were all amazed, woah’s and wows directed at the screen. Suddenly Kun felt like he had some privileged information that no one else knew. From then on, Kun’s burnt out love for magic had set aflame in his heart once again.

Over the years, Kun had gotten very good at his hobby, but he wanted more. He wanted to make a living out of something he was passionate about. Kun was a very reserved person and didn't want to be one of those big name Vegas magicians, so that brought him here, opening his own magic shop.

The little bell above the entrance of the shop dinged as a customer walked in, a regular. He was an elderly gentleman who had been a stage magician in his youth but changed professions to some office job that had him sitting in a cubicle for hours on end. He always says it was the biggest regret of his life.

“Hey Houdini!” Kun chuckles as he sees the man walk in. This wasn’t his name. The man's real name was Harold, which prompted Harry Houdini jokes, until Houdini had become his official nickname.

“Hey kid!” Houdini laughs back. “Got anything new for me to check out?” The man walks over to the counter, slowly with a hunched back, but with a lively look on his face.

“Well,” Kun says, stepping out from behind the checkout counter, “we have some new flame products, y’know, the old classic flaming wallet, but we also ha-” The bell of the shop interrupts him mid sentence, as he looks over his shoulder to see who had walked in.

A man, around his age, maybe younger, walked in. His hair was a medium brown, as opposed to Kun’s mint green, and his features were soft.

“Go help the young man, I’ll look around for now.” Houdini tells Kun. He pats the man's arm and fully turns to the new customer. He hadn't seen the man before and it intrigued him. He barely got new customers, and when he did, it was usually a young kid accompanied by someone or a group of people who very much looked like tourists. This man, however, met neither of those criteria.

“How may I help you?” Kun asks, shooting him a kind smile, making his way back behind the counter again.

“I don’t know.” The other man says. Kun cocks his brow.

“Is there.. anything specific that you're looking for?” He tries.

“Not really, honestly I just came in here because I saw you through the window and thought you were cute, but I didn't plan this far ahead so here I am I guess.” He says. Kun felt his face heat up and couldn't find any words to respond with.

“Want to see a magic trick?” Kun asks, and immediately grimaces at how childish his words sounded.

“Sure!” The other boy responds, thankfully sounding enthusiastic.

Kun thinks for a fraction of a second, but settles on some lame card trick that he’s done a thousand times before. Not his most impressive, but Kun thought that in his flustered state, it’d be better to rely on his muscle memory, almost certain that he’d mess up anything even remotely more complicated.

When he’s done, the other boy smiles so wide Kun thought it must hurt, loudly clapping.

“That was so cool! You should teach me!” He says.

“Have you ever done magic sir?” Kun asks, fighting back a smile of his own.

“Call me Yangyang, sir sounds too official.” The boy, Yangyang, says.

“Okay Yangyang, have you ever done magic?” Kun reiterates.

“Nope!” The other replies, putting emphasis on the ‘p’.

“Maybe we should start with something easier then. The trick I did was more of an intermediate level I’d say.” Kun says.

“I’d love to but I’m gonna be late to where I’m headed.” Yangyang says. Kun looks at him incredulously.

“Then why'd you ask?” 

“I don’t know, I was flirting I think.” Yangyang replies, shrugging his shoulders Kun can’t help but let out a laugh at the boy.

“Wanna see my magic trick though?” Yangyang asks.

“Sure!” Kun says.

“Boom.” Yangyang says, slamming a torn scrap of paper on the counter. Kun looked at it and scoffed. It was the boy’s name and phone number.

“Isn’t this a little too cliche?” Kun asks, tucking the piece of paper carefully into the pocket of his jacket.

“Hey, I clapped for your magic trick.” Yangyang huffs.

“Right.” Kun laughs, clapping his hands. “My bad, it was an amazing trick.” Yangyang beams up at him.  
“I must ask though,” Kun starts, and Yangyang nods, “do you do this magic trick often?”

Yangyang shakes his head.

“It’s my first time, and hopefully my last. If you text that number tho, I’ll show you some real magic.”

Kun gapes at the other boy.

“I-” Kun starts but the other interrupts him.

“I have to go now or I’ll really be fucked, see you soon?” Yangyang asks hopefully.

“I- yeah, yeah I’ll text you later.” Kun replies.

With that, the boy turns around and exits out of the shop, the closing door ruffling Kun’s hair as he stands there, smiling at the spot Yangyang has stood only moments before. Now that was real magic, he thought.

“That reminds me of a story I don’t think I’ve told you.” Houdini says, startling Kun, who completely forgot his presence. “It’s about how I met my true love in the audience of one of my shows way back in the day.”

“I’m all ears, old man.”


End file.
